Egypt’s stock exchange bounces back as investors welcome coronavirus stimulus spending

Egypt’s stock exchange (EGX) roared back to life on Thursday, rebounding from steep losses in the previous session as hopes of government stimulus calmed investors’ fears of the coronavirus economic impact.

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, the country’s largest state-owned banks, have pumped early Thursday 3 billion Egyptian pounds ($190.4 million) for purchasing shares in the EGX, a move to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis.

Late Tuesday, the Egyptian government announced cutting a tax on dividends for companies listed on its stock exchange by half to 5 percent and lowering a stamp duty on stock market transactions.

Main index, EGX 30 closed 5.13 percent higher to 9205.58 points. It had earlier lost almost a third of its value over the past four weeks on concern over the coronavirus threat to the economy.

The broad ranged EGX 100 index also rose 0.24 percent to 930.12 points.

The outbreak of the flu-like virus has caused EGX’s market capitalisation losses worth up to 162.225 billion Egyptian pounds ($10.3 billion) since the beginning of March, with EGX 30 declining 29.4 percent.